Xiong Aisha (centre) instructs students on livestreaming techniques on 6 July (DONG NING)

At the 2026 China Yiwu Cultural and Tourism Products Trade Fair, Moroccan student Hajar Ben Gharbaoui moved confidently through the exhibition halls, introducing a China-Africa trade initiative to prospective buyers and business partners. The project, developed by Yiwu Cufei Technology Co. Ltd. for the Nigerian market, gave Ben Gharbaoui the opportunity to explain its commercial potential while building connections with exhibitors. 

Ben Gharbaoui is completing a two-month internship with Yiwu Cufei Technology as part of Yiwu Industrial and Commercial College’s practice-oriented training programme. She has already secured a full-time position, paving the way for a career linking Chinese and African markets. 

Known as “a university built on a marketplace,” Yiwu Industrial and Commercial College has developed an education model closely aligned with the city’s trading economy. By combining classroom study with internships, entrepreneurship training and real business experience, it prepares students for careers in global commerce. 

The approach has attracted thousands of international students, many of whom, like Ben Gharbaoui, see Yiwu as a gateway to opportunities in China-Africa trade.  

Built on a marketplace 

“The college provides international students with comprehensive support, from language learning to entrepreneurship training and business mentoring,” Lu Jun, vice dean of the School of International Education in Yiwu Industrial and Commercial College, told ChinAfrica. 

In March 2022, the college launched its International Youth Entrepreneurship Incubation Base, opening a low-threshold pathway for foreign entrepreneurs to start businesses in China. “International students can even use the campus as their registered business address free of charge,” Lu said. 

The model has proved popular. So far, 47 international students have registered companies at the college, generating a combined turnover of 300 million yuan ($44 million) in 2025. 

“Having my registered business address on campus helps me to build trust with new partners,” said Kamalou-Dine Adissa Akinocho, a student from Benin who exports hardware and small commodities from Yiwu to African markets. 

The college began enrolling international students in 2007 and has since trained more than 13,000 students from 113 countries. 

Yiwu’s cross-border e-commerce sector has expanded rapidly. In 2025, the city’s cross-border e-commerce transactions reached 168 billion yuan ($25 billion), up 19.9 percent year on year, according to Zhejiang Economic and Information Centre. In October 2025, Yiwu opened its sixth-generation marketplace, the Global Digital Trade Centre, integrating livestreaming, online platforms, cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses. The city’s booming digital trade has also reshaped the college’s curriculum. 

The college launched its cross-border e-commerce livestreaming course in September 2022. “We have adopted a genuine school-enterprise cooperation model,” said Xiong Aisha, one of the college’s first livestreaming instructors. “Companies provide real accounts, products and supply chains for our students to use during class sessions.” 

Training begins in a simulated warehouse environment before moving into Yiwu’s wholesale markets. “Once students master the basics, they livestream directly from the marketplace,” Xiong said. “The entire market becomes their studio as they introduce products to overseas buyers in real time.” 

Over the past three years, the college has trained more than 800 cross-border e-commerce livestreaming practitioners. 

Moroccan student Hajar Ben Gharbaoui (right) takes part in a livestreaming session (COURTESY)

Cultivating international talent  

In 2023, the college established its first overseas campus, the Morocco Silk Road Institute, where students spend two years studying before completing a final year of practical training in Yiwu. In 2024, the college also introduced its vocational skills assessment for cross-border e-commerce livestreaming in Morocco. Su Man, a teacher from the School of Foreign Studies, was the first instructor sent there. 

“Because it was the first cohort, everyone was exploring something completely new, and many people were unsure about what the future would hold,” Su said. 

To show students what awaited them, the college organised two study visits to Yiwu. The trips paid off. “After those visits, the students became much more enthusiastic about their final year of study in China. Some of them even arrived a year earlier than planned,” Su said. 

Among those inspired was Martis Nicolas Franck, a Senegalese student who studied alongside Ben Gharbaoui in Morocco. Before coming to China, he had fewer than 2,000 TikTok followers. Within months of arriving in Yiwu, videos documenting his life had attracted more than 10,000 followers. 

One story that particularly inspired him was that of Sourakhata Tirera, a Senegalese businessman who has run a trading business in Yiwu for more than two decades. 

The college’s first overseas programme has now come full circle. “All eight students majoring in International Economics and Trade have successfully completed their studies,” said Fang Yifei, deputy director of the International Affairs Office at the School of International Education. 

The graduates are already charting different paths. Ben Gharbaoui is preparing to join Cufei Technology full time, continuing her career in China-Africa trade. Martis hopes to build a business inspired by the entrepreneurs he has met in Yiwu, while Akinocho plans to expand beyond exports by introducing more African products to Chinese consumers. 

“Since China’s zero-tariff policy for African countries took effect on 1 May this year, interest among African businesses in the Chinese market has grown significantly,” Akinocho said. “I hope to help to bring more African products to Chinese consumers while introducing more Chinese products to Africa.”